The COVID-19 outbreak is changing every element of the shopping process, from how customers engage to where businesses must display on platforms. How can companies quickly develop their brand to meet new demands? With the flexibility and agility of headless commerce. “Headless Commerce” is a term you’ve probably heard of, one of the most contentious and misunderstood eCommerce keywords. The components of a headless commerce system will be explained in this article. You’ll also learn about the architecture’s advantages and disadvantages.
What is Headless Commerce?
Separating a platform’s front-end layers from its back-end layers is known as headless commerce. The front-end layers incorporate parts like presentation and a site’s format that clients communicate with easily. Whereas, the back-end layer of the website includes the features of the site. The back-end functionality of the website for user experience is mainly separated by headless commerce and is known as the “head”.
How Does Headless Commerce Work?
Headless commerce refers to the removal of traditional pre-defined front-end frameworks and the use of API calls to fetch crucial pieces from the back-end. Because there is no longer a fixed foundation, platforms can experiment with unlimited customization.
These days, a growing number of platforms require headless commerce. The buttons to reorder things or gadgets that rely only on audio, such as Google Home or Alexa, are a few examples. Headless commerce’s versatility allows you to simply update and personalize your platform’s front end while also deploying a single e-commerce backend across several sites.
Difference between Headless Commerce and Traditional Commerce?
Headless commerce architecture has a lot in common with traditional commerce, but it also has certain peculiarities. While headless covers the technical requirements of purchasing a product or service, it allows for a more personalized customer experience. Furthermore, changes are simple and quick to implement, and the back end may get readily integrated across multiple platforms.
Advantages of a Headless Commerce
Let’s look at the benefits of establishing a headless commerce architecture to appreciate why organizations invest in learning about it.
1. Websites that load faster
Organizations can use a headless strategy to bring together performant modern technologies to create fast websites that match. Teams can design quicker websites than their monolithic equivalents by utilizing tools and technology that optimize performance.
The front-end world is constantly changing, and there are always new approaches to speed with modern front-end tools. Developers and marketers can use these new technologies to test which stack is the most performant without impacting the backend.
The most basic consideration from the backend is that the headless commerce and CMS system have a profoundly performant API. Because these two systems will likely contain the information, it is important to ensure that the toolset is adequate for the task. High API call volumes, quick API response times, and a significant focus on developer experience are all indicators that can be useful.
2. Making your tech stack future-proof
Companies may develop a more resilient stack for the future with a headless architecture. The stack’s inherent flexibility allows users to improve as the project progresses and needs change. The extra tooling for a particular project can be altered as omnichannel approaches modify or as the team develops; even though, the information-rich backend of a headless commerce system and CMS working together will permit those changes to happen quickly.
3. Employee acceptance is better
Because of steep learning curves, several companies are hesitant to adopt new technologies. Since every team member can basically access and update the front end without having any prior knowledge, utilizing a contemporary commerce platform along with the simplicity of headless commerce defeats this issue.
4. Scalability
Headless solutions can future-proof your brand by allowing you to alter your front end without having to re-platform on the back end as trends arise and your firm adjusts. Front-end developers can leverage APIs to add back-end functionality to your existing system and employ a framework. Instead of developing a new website from scratch, you can utilize the headless solutions and can treat each new functionality independently, and coordinate new elements as your site extend.
5. Novel technologies
Brands can trial new technology in a headless environment. Thus, it helps developers get rid of the constraints of a standard CMS by isolating the front end from the backend. The term “head” defines the theme and layout that users mainly experience on the website. Perhaps, adopting headless commerce would assist you with better opportunities since you can connect a CMS, DXP, or Internet of Things gadget (IoT) intended for content- or experience-driven commerce. The front end gets replaced without having any effect on the back end.
Misconceptions about Headless Architectures
There are some common misconceptions concerning the advantages and disadvantages of deploying a headless architecture. Take a look at some of the examples:
1. It’s not good for SEO
JavaScript is the frontend framework of choice for many modular, headless frameworks. Websites that use JavaScript are often thought to be more difficult for Search Engines to crawl since the pages must first get queued for rendering. However, with the emergence of contemporary static site generators, this issue is no longer an issue. Teams can use SSGs to pre-render pages and serve HTML to the browser.
Additionally, because Core Web Vitals are becoming significant ranking criteria, adopting a contemporary SSG helps increase page loading time, which helps SEO. A genuinely modular, headless strategy employs a diverse group of solutions that enable organizations to benefit from tools to meet today’s performance and SEO criteria.
2. More Complexity: Headless
There is a prevalent misconception that with a headless architecture, architecture and workflows become substantially more complex. In its most basic form, headless architecture means offering a single backend for all possible methods to deliver a shopping experience. By linking the frontend presentation layer to your headless commerce solution, teams may serve information to numerous platforms.
Modern consumer engagement almost always necessitates brands to think differently and take new techniques to capture customers’ attention, but this is usually more dependent on how data gets presented than on a sophisticated backend architecture. Tools frequently interact with one another to bring additional capability into a single platform, reducing workflow time and producing a more unified user experience while maintaining the benefits of a modular workflow.
Should You Also Go Headless?
If you are wondering whether to step into headless commerce architecture or not or if it would be appropriate for your e-commerce business or not. Perhaps, various factors are essential to help you determine their importance for your company. They are:
1. Multiple Sites for Selling
In case you have various platforms and are even situated in different locations or countries, headless commerce architecture is an ideal choice to take care of a different front end from a solitary unified back end that consists of every content and product data.
2. Prior Investing in a Content Management System
If you currently have a CMS and just want to add commerce to your site, you may use a headless system to create a decoupled front end that works with the CMS.
3. Bringing Commerce and Content Together
If you run an e-commerce platform but develop content on another site, you might want to consider a headless commerce architecture. That will assist you in combining the two, allowing you to centralize data in the back end and serve it up in a customized front end.
3. A More Effective Omnichannel Strategy
Consider establishing a headless commerce architecture in your firm if your brand relies heavily on the content or gets built around customer experiences. It can be beneficial if you’re seeking a means to grow into new channels in a seamless, timely manner.
Conclusion
To reach the many platforms, e-commerce companies must think outside the box while maintaining the high-quality experiences provided to their customers. To improve the overall consumer experience, they can implement a headless commerce architecture into their company. If you’ve been hesitant about implementing a headless commerce architecture in your company, maybe this blog has clarified how it can improve your e-commerce operation.
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Simran works as a technical writer. The graduate in MS Computer Science from the well known CS hub, aka Silicon Valley, is also an editor of the website. She enjoys writing about any tech topic, including programming, algorithms, cloud, data science, and AI. Traveling, sketching, and gardening are the hobbies that interest her.
